Critique my itinerary in Croatia/Rome
 

Greetings Fodorites

We leave September 2 for Croatia/Rome and I wanted to present our agenda for your critique. All I can say is I NEED MORE VACATION TIME!

Sept 3 arrive Zagreb
We had originally intented to stay at the Ilica but soon realized we did not want to have to spray for bugs after a long day of travel, (thanks eurotraveler) so we opted for a room at the Esplanade. What the heck. We will stay in Zagreb 2 nights, since flights to Dubrovnik are not every day. I think we could have done Zagreb in one day, but connections do not work out that way.

Sept 5 arrive in Dubrovnik via quick flight on Croatia air. Rented an apartment on the water just near Villa Argentina. Will be in Dubrovnik for 5 nights. Might take a day trip. Might not. have befriended a woman at the Atlas Agency who will get us out of town if we feel so compelled.

Sept 10 8am to 4pm on the ferry Dubrovnik to Starigrad. Looking forward to packing up some good food and enjoying a nice day watching the scenery go by. Will stay in Hvar over the weekend. (Yes, I know that's not long enough!) Haven't booked accomodations yet. Should I? Will I be able to get a good sobe this time of year? Would rather leave it to chance unless someone want to tell me that's unwise.

Sept 12 Hvar to Split
Ferry arrives at 07:30. Will probably spend the day in Split then bus over to Trogir to spend the night. I'm looking at the Mirna, the Hotel Concordia and the Vila Sikaa. Any recomendations?

Sept 13 we have most of the day to spend in Trogir/Split then take the SNAV to Ancona at 17:00. I haven't the foggiest where to stay for a quick overnighter in Ancona. The next morning I need to be on a train for Rome at 06:00. Any suggestions?

By the way, flights from Split to Rome were $300pp--I'm, still torn about whether to spend the money to make quick work of getting from Split to Rome.

Sept 14 we arrive Rome at 09:30, dump our bags at our favorite hotel- Ponte Sisto. Will find somewhere to sit and have lunch and then on to the Scavi Tour. After that, we will spend 2 days shopping in Rome (seen lots of the sights already but have a list a mile long of all the stores we want to return to) and then fly home, begging Air France to bump us during our layover in Paris. What are the chances for this?

We have an awful 7am departure from Rome (Flying on FF miles, can't fix it) At least traffic to the airport will be better than usual at that hour!

Yes I know we're going too fast. We're going to Thailand in the winter and so am trying to space out my vacation time. I'm sure we'll go back to Croatia as we travel to Italy often.

Any recommendations from those who have done this trip, please advise. I have profited greatly from the information extracted from this forum and thank all those who so graciously contribute.

oh and thanks alot for getting me all strung out on the Sorrento Web Cam....

If you go to Hvar on 10 September, you shouldn't have any problem getting accommodation. The peak season ends at the beginning of September. I've been to the Croatian coast in September and found rooms are plentiful.

Geoff

That's what I was hoping. I'm usually not to keen on leaving accomodations up in the air. This will be a first for me.

Offwego, have a great trip - we're planning our first trip to Croatia next spring. QUICK, call Europebyair at 888 321 4737 -- there are flights from Split to Rome on the day you want for $99, leaving at 4:20 pm. Could you please tell me how you found your apt. on the water, and post the link if it has a web site. Here is a place in Hvar that I think looks good - only 5 minutes walk to the center, and yet quiet and peaceful: http://www.hvar.hr/barbaric/. Thanks, and buon viaggio.

Your planned trip is almost the reverse of a trip we did from Rome to Split, Hvar, Dubrovnik, Zagreb, with almost the same amount of time devoted to each. We thought ours worked out well and we sure enjoyed it. You can read my report on this site. Have a great time.

ttt, for offwego.

JmVikmanus

For the life o'me I can't find your trip report. Got the link handy? I would love to read it.

Thanks

AlohaAnn

I slept on it and decided to get those cheap Europe Air tickets after all. That gives me one more night in Rome (rather than in Ancona) and works out actually cheaper than the combined cost of the ferry and train.

One more night in Rome, and it's not even my birthday!

Thanks for finding that for me.

It is too bad you will have to spend 2 nights in Zagreb but in doing so you might want to rent a car for the day and take a day trip in the early morning and visit Plitvice National Park. My boyfriend didn't want to visit but after much convincing he agreed and we were both very glad that we spent 4 hours there on our way to the coast from Zagreb. It is about 2 1/2 hours away.

5 days in Dubrovnik will give you a good taste of the city. I wish we had more time there. Next time I will visit one of the nearby islands.

I think 2 days on Hvar will be perfect. We stayed in Hvar town 2 nights and in the day time we rented a car with another couple we had met and drove all over the island. That was one of the highlights of our trip.

Trogir is fantastic! We had stopped into Vila Sikaa but they were full and directed us to Apartmani Bakica just up the road about 100 meters. We loved it! Check it out at www.trogironline.com/bakica. They were very friendly and the unit was very nice. We did have a chance to view one of the rooms at Vila Sikaa and we would definitely stay there if Apartmani Bakica is full next time we visit.

I am glad to hear that you are flying to Rome. Ancona is not a place I would choose to stay an night in.

We have been to Rome a couple of times and we would both like to shop next time we are there. The store fronts are like eye candy! So well done, full of wonderful things and so tempting!

Enjoy your trip! I look forward to reading your report when you get back.

Cheers!

Eurotraveler
Thanks for the kind words and recommendations. Starting to really get stoked for this trip. Will report upon return.

The next time you are in Rome, you definitely need to chart out a shopping tour. I have done some serious damage just in the course of an afternoon! No need to bleed money on the Condotti. There are so many inexpensive shops with fabulous things. I always go with an empty suitcase! Will be sure to report on the shops when we return.